Ninety-one per cent of email traffic sent to Indian PC users is spam, states a recent MessageLabs report. The email security company cautioned that the rate of technological advancement has outstripped growth in security awareness.

The majority of junk email still comes from the US, or is generated by American spammers who have moved their operations abroad, the report further stated.

The MessageLabs Intelligence Report for February also found that the UAE had the highest rate of virus transmission, with one virus received per 13.9 emails.

Mobiles register 21% growth

Worldwide mobile phone sales totalled 816.6 million units in 2005, a 21 per cent increase from 2004, as the leading six vendors - Nokia, Motorola, Samsung, LG, Sony Ericsson and Siemens - increased their share of the market, according to Gartner.

The top six vendors accounted for 79.4 per cent of the worldwide phone sales in 2005. In the fourth quarter of 2005, the mobile phone market remained strong, with sales exceeding 235 million units.

Reaching for the stars

Indian technology companies have now started drawing on star power (not astrology but Bollywood) to enhance their brand value. While Compaq and Airtel had Bollywood King Shah Rukh Khan to endorse their brands, Lenovo (formed by Lenovo group's acquisition of the former IBM Personal Computing Division) has roped in Bollywood stars Saif Ali Khan and Soha Ali Khan to endorse its products.

While their choice of stars may depend on the wallet power, all tech companies have one refrain that the stars are "chosen carefully to reflect values of innovation, excellence and passion and their appeal to the youth". Hope the stars, who appear to be earning more from these endorsements rather than acting in films, help tech companies increase their sales.

Time-pass on the Net

A new study finds that on any given day, nearly a third of US Internet users log on just for fun or to pass the time. Compared with other online tasks, recreational surfing ranks behind only e-mail and search and it's about even with getting news online, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project. The 30 percent of Internet users who went online for fun on a given day represents an increase from 21 per cent a year earlier.

'Harassed' by e-mail

One in eight people received an offensive e-mail in the last year, government figures have indicated. The Fraud and Technology Crimes survey by the Home Office also found one in 11 had received similar types of messages by text message or voicemail. Men aged 26 to 30 were most likely to be the victims of e-mail harassment, the study found.

But women were more likely than men to receive unpleasant messages through mobile phone texts or voicemail. Almost one in 10 women (9.9 per cent) received offending messages via phone, compared with 7.6 per cent of men. The study also revealed that 6.9 per cent people with a mobile phone had theirs stolen in the previous year.

Oscar briefs on iTunes

US movie fans are being offered the chance to download Oscar-nominated short films from iTunes. Film buffs have traditionally had little chance to view short films that are up for Hollywood's biggest awards. But now all five nominees for the live action short film award have been put on iTunes for $1.99 each.

Made by some of the world's most promising new film-makers, they range from 15 to 27 minutes long. The nominated shorts include Our Time is Up, a US film about a therapist who finds out he has six weeks to live, and UK entry Cashback, about a supermarket night shift worker whose imagination runs wild. The other nominees are from Germany, Ireland and Iceland.

Domestic employee

The growing trend towards working from home is likely to breed a more productive and liberated international workforce, reveals a recent survey conducted by Insight Express and SonicWALL. All respondents were relaxed about their personal habits when working remotely.

The easy-going approach also keeps tempers on an even keel, according to the survey. The majority of respondents were in the 25 to 45 age range.

In matters of cleanliness, the difference between the sexes was more pointed: Forty-four per cent women surveyed said they showered on work-at-home days, as opposed to men, who were slightly more likely to shave than wash.